Mother Earth Perlite/Coco VS Mother Earth Coco (Comparison + Pics)

So I've noticed that straight coco regardless of brand tends to always win against perlite coco blends or other "coco" blends.

I did a side by side comparison with #5 pots and Mother Earth 70/30 Coco vs Mother Earth Coco and the results are obvious. Don't add Perlite to your coco. I was initially really worried about just using straight coco but it's definitely the way to go!

I used some of the "Coco Loco" blend from FoxFarms and the plants were trash and got pulled and thrown in the trash. Also their "coco" blend ended up attracting my favorite gnat friends.

All of the seedlings were planted from Root Riot pods directly into these pots 12/06/2019.

• Seedlings: Critical Purple AutoFlower
• Mediums: Mother Earth Coco x Mother Earth Coco/Perlite
• Nutrients: Advanced Nutrients Connoisseur Base Liquid "ph perfect" Nutrients
• Light: Mars-Hydro TSW-2000 LED 24" from Canopy

Thank you, I was considering trying some perlite in my coco. Negative.

This is very interesting. Logic tells me you started the pure coco grow a few days earlier than the coco/perlite jkjk. Do you have any idea as to the "whys" behind this. I have a feeling that once the seedlings get more established, the coco/perlite plants will be growing more aggressively, giving that they are fertigated properly

Hydrowannabe said:

This is very interesting. Logic tells me you started the pure coco grow a few days earlier than the coco/perlite jkjk. Do you have any idea as to the "whys" behind this. I have a feeling that once the seedlings get more established, the coco/perlite plants will be growing more aggressively, giving that they are fertigated properly

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I don't know the reason behind it. I was talking to some of the regulars at my hydro shop and they also were very surprised. They were planted at the same time. stamped & labeled.

calvin.m16 said:

I don't know the reason behind it. I was talking to some of the regulars at my hydro shop and they also were very surprised. They were planted at the same time. stamped & labeled.

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Are you planning on doing a side by side for the whole grow. If so, that would be really helpful for a lot of people. I think i might try straight coco next run. Wouldn't mind having to fertigate a little less

Talks perlite around minute 17:30

So you've done full runs of plants in the different mediums to come to this conclusion? And im assuming from clone since from seed you will have different pheno's and different growth rates. No offence but if your coming to these conclusions after a few weeks of seeds put in 5 gal pots, lol. Seriously tho adding perlite to coco increases drainage and reduces compaction. I grew in everything from straight coco to 80% perlite 20% coco, and every ratio inbetween. Stuck with the high ratio perlite and grew trees in that mix for almost 10 years. Fed 12 times per day, in 10-26 gal pots indoors. With the high ratio of perlite its as close to hydro that you can get without actually going hydro.

good for solo cup sexing experiment. What could explain it maybe:
Coco will hold more water and nutes.
Ph difference maybe needed.
Roots will have a longer and harder time going around perlite.

I wonder what would happen if you water more.

Im not sure about fox farms but I have made my own organic coco perlite with granular ferts and seedlings especially without established roots and especially autos/semiautos the roots wont grow out being afraid to burn stunting the auto or it grows into a shitty plant.

Hust17 said:

Thank you, I was considering trying some perlite in my coco. Negative.

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My pleasure. I'm still using pure coco. I've found CANNA COCO is the best quality product when it comes to coco. You can really tell because its darker in color. I did have a few bad batches that had metal bits in it... They made it right by getting me a few free bags.

TintEastwood said:

Talks perlite around minute 17:30

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Makes sense. Thanks for that video.

I use mother earth 70/30 coco/perlite mix. Is perlite just filler for the companies lol?

calvin.m16 said:

So I've noticed that straight coco regardless of brand tends to always win against perlite coco blends or other "coco" blends.

I did a side by side comparison with #5 pots and Mother Earth 70/30 Coco vs Mother Earth Coco and the results are obvious. Don't add Perlite to your coco. I was initially really worried about just using straight coco but it's definitely the way to go!

I used some of the "Coco Loco" blend from FoxFarms and the plants were trash and got pulled and thrown in the trash. Also their "coco" blend ended up attracting my favorite gnat friends.

All of the seedlings were planted from Root Riot pods directly into these pots 12/06/2019.

• Seedlings: Critical Purple AutoFlower
• Mediums: Mother Earth Coco x Mother Earth Coco/Perlite
• Nutrients: Advanced Nutrients Connoisseur Base Liquid "ph perfect" Nutrients
• Light: Mars-Hydro TSW-2000 LED 24" from Canopy

View attachment 4438850View attachment 4438852

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KUDOS FOR USEING MOTHER EARTH

in theory you shouldent need any with coco choir as its a fiber and should by nature have air holes through out the pot its in. in theory

go go kid said:

KUDOS FOR USEING MOTHER EARTH

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Mother Earth has always treated me right!

I buy it from my clients who get it delivered on pallets, they give me their price. So I can't really bitch lol but if I am losing growth it would be worth buying straight coco. Wonder how I can convince them, I would have to try it with my own grow first.

oops ,should have watched the vid first

go go kid said:

in theory you shouldent need any with coco choir as its a fiber and should by nature have air holes through out the pot its in. in theory

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Many dispute this and say that without perlite you're going to suffocate your roots. Not true at all I've gone from seed to smoke in 100% pure coco with liquid fertilizers from a few different brands..

I will say that starting your plants in 1 gallon grow bags with a more aery medium like Sunshine Advanced #4 will allow your tap root to have very good aeration and basically insure against over watering. That or you could use Coco/Perlite on your initial plant and then when transplanting let the roots wander out and rip through the deeper pure coco.

The Gram Reaper said:

I buy it from my clients who get it delivered on pallets, they give me their price. So I can't really bitch lol but if I am losing growth it would be worth buying straight coco. Wonder how I can convince them, I would have to try it with my own grow first.

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I think Coco/Perlite should cost LESS than pure coco. I understand some people want to feed more rapidly but they don't understand how coco works and don't practice daily irrigation/fertigation. If I go for a more drainy medium that dries out quicker I reach for Sunshine #4. I get that stuff for $25 out the door per/3 cu ft bale.

calvin.m16 said:

I think Coco/Perlite should cost LESS than pure coco. I understand some people want to feed more rapidly but they don't understand how coco works and don't practice daily irrigation/fertigation. If I go for a more drainy medium that dries out quicker I reach for Sunshine #4. I get that stuff for $25 out the door per/3 cu ft bale.

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I feed 6 times a day on an auto feed. I get a lot worse results when I hand feed coco. I don't work with plants as large as you do any more though.

I realized your experiment is from seed. With the large difference in phenotypes that autoflowers can have, is it really a valid experiment? Shouldn't experiments be done with clones of similar size? Hand watering can also change the results, they all need an equal feed and even watering distribution. I do see the ones in pure coco are substantially larger but it could be because of these factors.

The Gram Reaper said:

I feed 6 times a day on an auto feed. I get a lot worse results when I hand feed coco. I don't work with plants as large as you do any more though.

I realized your experiment is from seed. With the large difference in phenotypes that autoflowers can have, is it really a valid experiment? Shouldn't experiments be done with clones of similar size? Hand watering can also change the results, they all need an equal feed and even watering distribution. I do see the ones in pure coco are substantially larger but it could be because of these factors.

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Autoflowers are not a good baseline for testing the mediums you're correct. I tested several different strains/phenos in coco/perlite not just autos I was also running some photoperiod Cinderella 99 as well. I no longer mess with Autos I'm full blown perpetual photo now.

Trust me I've been dabbling in the TrolMaster Aqua-X system for a while. I have the pump/tubing and all that to run it I'm just not ready to pull the trigger on Automation yet and nor do I have a tank big enough to hold the quantity of nutrient solution I require daily (40 gallons).

The plants you see were vegged for about 60 days in 10 gal pots of pure coco. I typically grow my plants about 6 feet tall keeping them a foot away from the 1000w DE HPS. I've never had a problem with bleaching or anything like that.. I think the key is keeping good airflow with oscillating fans and avoiding hot spots by not using excessive reflective materials.

Another thing I will note is 100% Coco vs Coco Perlite you will have much better horizontal coverage of water during fertigation whereas the perlite seems to allow the water to just drop straight down and also I notice way higher runoff PPM which tells me perlite is just helping me dump my $$ down the drain, literally.